


You Are Brave

by indigo_inks



Category: Star Wars: Queen's Shadow - E. K. Johnston
Genre: Alderaan, Developing Friendships, Gen, POV Leia Organa, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:08:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21812704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indigo_inks/pseuds/indigo_inks
Summary: Risa had fascinated Leia for as long as she could remember. She wasn’t exactly certain what Risa did, but she knew she was running covert errands on behalf of Alderaan and that whatever errands she was running were very important.
Relationships: Leia Organa & Sabé
Comments: 5
Kudos: 36
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	You Are Brave

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nic/gifts).



“No, Princess Leia. Please try again. The pronunciation is _ARW-HOO_ , not _AHWOO_.”

“Boo hoo,” Leia groused. She crossed her arms over her chest, defiant. “Who cares?”

“The Wookiee you tell to ‘excrete razorgrass’ when you meant to say ‘nice to meet you’ will care,” her tutor droid pointed out, its artificially feminine tone infinitely patient.

“I’m sure the Wookiee will be able to figure it out. It’s got to be a common error, right?” she asked reasonably.

“It is indeed a common error, but _you_ , Your Highness, are not a common young woman. _You_ are a Princess of Alderaan, and fluency in at least six Galactic Standard tongues is considered essential—”

Leia stopped listening. The tutor droid was insufferable whenever she went on a tirade about what she considered Essential Knowledge for the Princess and Future Queen of Alderaan. Leia was nine years old; she didn’t need to be lectured like a child anymore! And really, who cared whether it was pronounced _ARW-HOO_ or _AHWOO_? She could recognize the difference when she heard it, and if she couldn’t actually pronounce that requisite plosive vowel herself, well, she wasn’t a Wookiee, now was she? Any future hypothetical Wookiee she was greeting for the first time would just have to understand.

“—why, when Queen Breha was your age, she could already conjugate all fifty seven forms of—”

Leia’s eyes drifted longingly toward the transparisteel window. She could see Aldera Palace’s Second Gate from here, the entrance her parents’ associates used when they had unofficial business to conduct with Alderaan’s monarchs. As a matter of fact, someone was just arriving now…

“Oh look, it’s Risa! I got to go!” Leia cried out. She leapt to her feet and left the tutoring hall at a run, her tutor droid spluttering impotent protests behind her.

* * *

Leia kept to the shadows where she wouldn’t be spotted, tailing Risa through the hallways of the Palace some ten meters behind and ducking behind corners as necessary.

Risa had fascinated Leia for as long as she could remember. She wasn’t exactly certain what Risa did, but she knew she was running covert errands on behalf of Alderaan and that whatever errands she was running were very important. More that that, however, Leia was fascinated by Risa herself: a pretty human woman with dark hair and eyes, slender and short yet radiating supreme confidence. Sometimes Leia liked to imagine that she might grow up to be like Risa. She figured it was possible; they kind of looked alike!

As expected, Risa was shown to her usual guest quarters. She remained inside – freshening up and changing out of her traveler’s clothing, presumably – for a quarter of an hour before heading toward the Palace’s inner administrative section. That was where Leia’s father’s office was situated. And sure enough, he was already there when Risa arrived; he looked like he’d been expecting her.

“Risa! I’m so glad you’re safe,” Leia’s father said without preamble. His expression was warm, but his forehead was lined with concern. From this Leia knew that Risa’s safety had not been a foregone conclusion.

Risa gave a short, angry shake of her head and said, “I’ve never seen anything like it. They were checking every exit visa at every spaceport in the system. Every planet, every hyperspace lane, completely blockaded. He’s is a _monster_ , Bail; hundreds of millions are starving. Why, if the Trade Federation had tried such tactics on Naboo back in the day, we wouldn’t be—”

“Perhaps we should take this discussion inside?” Leia’s father interrupted. His eyes flicked towards the indoor topiary that Leia was using to conceal herself.

“Ah. Yes, of course.”

They both disappeared into the homeworld office of Senator Bail Organa. The door was shut securely behind them.

Leia’s shoulder’s slumped, but she recovered from her disappointment quickly with a sudden realization: This meant that she could snoop in Risa’s room! This was her chance to learn aaaall she could about Risa!

* * *

While Leia didn’t _necessarily_ have total freedom of Aldera Palace, she _had_ pilfered the cleaning droids’ access codes last year, and they hadn’t been changed since, so entering Risa’s allocated guest chamber wasn’t a problem.

Unfortunately, Risa, it seemed, traveled light. There really wasn’t much to look at: a credits pouch with a handful of worn Imperial credit chips, an Alderaanian passport, a blaster in its holster (which Leia did not dare touch), a dusty pile of discarded clothing.

Leia picked up and shook out a nerf-leather jacket from the pile of clothing and put it on. It was too big for her, but not too big. She checked the hip pockets and found a locket on a long, thin chain. The locket was pretty – very like Risa, somehow – and Leia put the locket on too. Then she examined herself in the dressing room mirror and school her face into a serious, determined expression.

Like this, why, she could almost be mistaken for Risa! How wonderf—

“And just what do you think you’re doing?”

Leia’s stomach dropped, and she whirled about, away from the mirror and toward the sound of Risa’s voice. “I-I…I was just…” She’d been caught in the act and couldn’t think of an excuse that wouldn’t make her seem more guilty.

“Trying on my clothing without my permission?” Risa supplied. She sounded more amused than angry. “Quite the brave little girl, aren’t you?”

She ought not try making excuses, she realized. If she was in the wrong, she ought simply to apologize. Leia tore off the jacket and held it out to Risa. “I’m sorry,” she said softly, contritely, “I have no excuse for my behavior.”

Risa reclaimed her jacket with a gentle smile. “No harm done.” Risa took her jacket back and gave it a little shake. “To me _or_ my jacket…” Her voice trailed off. She was looking fixedly at Leia’s chest, just below her collarbone. Her smile faded.

 _The locket._ “Oh, I forgot—”

“No, keep it.”

“But—” 

“Please. It was given to me by a friend of mine many years ago.” Risa stepped forward and adjusted the locket so that it hung prettily. She stroked Leia’s hair, tucking a stray lock that had worked itself free back into its plait. Her brown eyes had gone big and shiny, like she was about to cry. “I think she would have liked you to have it.”

“Thank you, Risa. You are very kind. Of course I’ll treasure it always.” Leia didn’t quite know what else to say in response.

Risa looked at Leia for a long time, silently, like she was debating whether or not to say more. But her next words were not, as Leia had been half-expecting, about the friend who’d given her the locket, but rather a topic which, truth be told, excited Leia far more than the origin story of a piece of old jewelry:

“In any event, it’s good you’re here, since I’d been planning on speaking with you anyway. On the basis of my… _unique_ …skillset, your father has asked me to become one of your tutors. Would you like that, Your Highness? There are some things, you see, which cannot be learned from droids…”


End file.
